


Higitus Figitus

by DrJackAndMissIole



Series: Singing Camelot [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Disney Movies, Disney Songs, Doctor!Merlin, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Kinda crack fic, M/M, Magic, Packing, Rebirth, The Sword in the Stone, if you overlook some minor details, merlin knows all the words from higitus figitus in italian, this can also be seen as a friendship, travelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-08 04:58:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11074530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrJackAndMissIole/pseuds/DrJackAndMissIole
Summary: Packing can get a tool on everyone, right?well, turns out Merlin has a secret ace up on his sleeve: his usual magic. Only now, things get a little tad more interesting for him, considering a certain leverage.





	1. Higitus Figitus

**Author's Note:**

> Well, Hello everyone!  
> This is just something that came up into my mind during shool, while boredom completely took over me.  
> I recommend reading this while listening to the song, you can find it on youtube.  
> I used the Italian version to write this, both listening to it on Spotify and watching it on Youtube.  
> I really hope you enjoy it!  
> *Disclaimer: I don't own shit, if I did, I wouldn't be here writing 'bout it*

“How are we supposed to fix all of these books and clothes in two small bags?”, Arthur asked perplexed.

“They are not small bags, they’re trolleys. Calling them like that hurts their feelings, so I highly recommend you to not do that, if you want to have all your socks back. Also remember, I have magic. I can easily do anything, including pack everything in not two, but _one_ suitcase, which is that rectangular handbag near the wardrobe... Which reminds me that I have to bring it along with us!”,Merlin replied, at first proud and then relieved to have remembered another piece.

The spell was quite easy, all he had to do was mutter a few words in the old language and the whole house could’ve fit in those trolleys without weighing anything. He was about to move his hands to activate the spell when a wicked, crazy, absolutely wonderful idea came into his mind.

Only two years had passed since Arthur had come back from Avalon, but he still was fidgeting to get a grasp on the new reality. Merlin had made him feel at home, read as many books and watch as many films and TV shows as he could, to help him adjust to this new life. There was only one condition, though: nothing that had to do with the Arthurian Legends and the Knights of The Round Table Cycle. Especially not those stories about Gwaine and the Green Knight, that sneaky bastard had been far too famous during the Middle Ages.

Merlin thought that Arthur needed a little bit more of time before seeing what humanity thought of him since his death. In reality, Merlin wasn’t ready to tell him about how things did really turn out to happen. Also, Arthur’s ego was already big enough to fill the whole Camelot, so there was no rush or actual need to pump him up by letting him know that they had made movies about his reign. They weren’t accurate, of course, but still!

“Maybe ‘Monty Python’ would send him off to a good start, though.” He thought while surfing through the channels on his television, looking for something to watch as Arthur ran his fingers through his hair slowly.

That had happened months before and now Arthur seemed to have matured enough to be able to handle his popularity. But his cluelessness offered Merlin a golden opportunity he simply couldn’t let go of.

The only flaw in his plan would be Arthur understanding some of the words if he was to recite them in the original English language, but any other version would’ve passed unnoticed. Thankfully he had travelled a lot during his immortal life and learnt various languages.

“Arthur,” he said, “you’d prefer to sit down and stay put for this one. The spell’s pretty powerful. I never tried it with someone else in the room.”. Merlin had put on one of his most serious faces. Arthur, having seen that face only in times of true danger, did as he was told, choosing to rest his hand on a pile of books while leaning against a wall, ready to jump into action if needed. Fighting hard to reprise a grin from ruining his stern and concentrated expression, Merlin raised his arms open wide, just above his head.

He had seen this scene a thousand times, probably more, in various languages since 1963, the year the movie was released. He had destroyed beyond repair several VHS of the Italian version of the cartoon, loving how chill his character was and, above all, how he did not sound like an actual old man in this edition.

He knew the words by heart. He knew how his character moved during the clip. And so he started acting.

Adding a  mysterious aura with a little bit of mist, he began chanting.

_“Higitus figitus abra kazè”_

Drums started to beat a rhythm somewhere.

_“Prestate attenzione tutti a me”_

 In the meantime, he mentally said the actual words to animate the objects laying around the room, who turned to look at him as he said the second verse of the song.

“ _Si fanno le valigie, andiamo, su su su!”_

He enchanted the sugar pot to move first, trying to get into the case head of the rest. Why was an enchanted sugar pot rising to get packed inside a trolley? Well because, otherwise, Merlin wouldn’t have been 100% faithful in his rendition.

“ _No, no, no, non tu. Sempre i libri prima, lo sai”_

He said toward the sugar pot, putting it back into its place. An upbeat music started to fill the room.

“ _Hockety pockety wockety wack, abra-cabra-dabra-da! Se ciascun si stingerà il posto a tutto si troverà”._

Slowly all  the object that needed to be packed, including a useless tea set that was there only to maintain the facade, formed a neat queue. Starting with the books, everything moved into the bag, shrinking in size whenever they reached it.

“ _Higitus figitus figitus sbum, prestidigitorium!”_

The books Arthur was leaning against began moving at their own will. The poor former king, too surprised to do anything but jump back further from this sorcery that had caught him off guard, yelped: “Uh! Uh-uh!”. He sounded a little bit like an owl, which almost made Merlin laugh.

“ _Alicafez, Balaca sez. Malacavez, Meripades”_

They had packed a lot of books. At least 100 different texts of medicine and also various novels and comic books for them to read while relaxing. Both found reading extremely relaxing. They, in fact, did not yell at a book after finishing it for ruining their lives or for having killed their favourite characters. They did not cry at night for their OTP might never happen. Oh no, they didn’t.

“ _Hockety pocket wockety...”_

This was the part where everything got a more interesting. Merlin slipped back into English, just to be able to better savoir the whole scene.

“ _Stop! Stop!”_

The music stopped, as well as everything else in the room. He moved closer to the flying sugar pot, who was crashing into a teapot, urging it to go faster.

_“Now see, sugar bowl, you’re getting rough. The poor old tea set is cracked enough!”_

Merlin went back to his original spot and completely missed the sugar pot giving another push to its fellow members of the set. Arthur was staring at him with wide eyes. “What’s wrong?”, the sorcerer asked. With a shrug, Arthur replied: “Why are we even bringing a tea set? They have those everywhere nowadays, even made of finer china.”. “But what if we get thirsty during the night? It wouldn’t be nice to call room service for a cup of tea at three a.m.”

Arthur gave another shrug and, being still a child inside, stuck his tongue out.

“ _Alright, let’s start again. Ah... Oh, where was I boy?”_

“Who did you just call boy, you rotten git! Also, you where at... _Ah, ‘Hockety pockety’?”_

_“Oh yes. Yes, that’s right.”_

The music began to play for a second time and everything started to move again. Merlin switched again into Italian.

“ _Hockety pocket wockety wack, tutto quel che servirà, hai  quasi finito di imballar, non ti farò aspettar!”_

Their clothes followed the books into the bags. They neatly folded themselves mid-air. Music rose up again as Merlin moved his hands around, looking like he was directing an orchestra.

There was some trouble with the shoes, who rushed into the bag and almost got stuck. Another part of Merlin’s plan, since he got to say another line from the song, “ _Ehi! Ehi, adagio lì!”_

At both of their pyjamas he had to say : _“No, no vai Avanti!”_

_“Dudlie dudlie dudlie Du! Ora la parte migliore!”_

He sang as their beauty cases got into the bags.

“ _Higitus figitus figitus sbum, prestidigitorium!”_

Almost everything was in its place now.

_“Higitus figitus figitus sbum. PRESTIDIGITORIUM! OW!”_

He said as the bags closed.

Arthur simply stood there, in a perfectly neat room, without a single thing out of its place. He looked around, then at the closed trolleys resting on their bed, then at Merlin. To maintain his facade, the sorcerer tried his best to look worn out and tired from the spell. He did a very convincing job, considered how worried Arthur looked.

He moved hurriedly closer towards Merlin, who was mentally high-fiving himself for the success.

“Is everything alright? Are you okay?”, Arthur asked as his hands went to rest on the sorcerer’s. Managing a small smile, Merlin replied:“Yeah, told you. Nothing I can’t do.”

Prying his hands away, Merlin took his trolley and mentally controlled if he had actually forgotten something. Glad he didn’t, he took his phone out of his pocket and called a cab to take them to the airport.

“What?”, he asked noticing Arthur’s still shocked face.

“You’re amazing.”

“Didn’t you know it already?”

“I’m never complimenting you ever again.”. Still doing the most mature he could manage, Arthur took his own luggage and flipped Merlin the bird, before going outside to wait for the cab. Laughing, Merlin followed him.

This little experiment had taken the exact turn that he wanted.


	2. Bonus chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added a little reveal :)

 

The plane had gotten silent, except for the sound of the engines on the other side of the window.

Lazily looking around himself, Arthur noticed Merlin fast asleep. No, he was actually fast snoring, even though he would’ve denied it till his dying day...which was not going to arrive anytime soon. Not now that they were both immortal. Also not now that the whole gang had come back from the dead.

Stretching his arms, Arthur called one of the hostesses to ask for a blanket. Merlin was always cold and he wasn't going to get his well-deserved rest if he didn't get warm enough. Nightmares would take over his mind and sleep, and his powers might not react well.

After placing the green blanket- “ _Green is an awful colour, why do you have it?”, “I’m sorry sir, but this is the standard colour of our company blankets”, “Oh. Okay, I understand. I apologise if I was rude or anything. I’m not hating on the company, only on the colour.”-_ over his boyfriend’s legs and torso and tucking him firmly in place, Arthur returned the headphones on his ears and went to choose a movie to watch in the remaining flight.

This was the tricky part: it was usually Merlin the one who chose the films, considering he had a better knowledge that the former king’s. But Arthur had picked a few of golden rules concerning television, the first one being ‘ _If it is Disney then it’s a yes’_.

So he switched the menu to the animated movies and searched for a Disney cartoon.

There were a few to pick up, most of them already seen. Except one. He had never known of this. How curious of the title to mention a sword in the stone, which fairly reminded him of Excalibur. Curiosity won him over. He clicked the icon of the film and pressed play, leaning back on his seat and getting more comfortable.

The beginning of the movie was a song sequence that explained the antecedents. The old king died childlessly and no one was ruling. The only thing that could resolve the situation was a sword that had came from the sky and settled itself nicely into a stone. No one could remove it unless they were the legitimate heir. It wasn't exactly like the Excalibur he had pulled out of its stone, but the resemblance was uncanny.

The story rolled over nicely, introducing the characters and the actions: Wart, which was, at the end of the movie discovered, was a very young version of _himself_ ; Merlin, who was old and grey and had a really long white beard that made him even clumsier; Madam Mim, a witch who was, of course, a reference to Morgana.

Only one thing unsettled him. He could swear he had heard the tune of one of Merlin’s songs, but he couldn’t pinpoint the moment when.

Could it be while doing the dishes, as his Merlin usually hummed songs, especially Disney ones?

Or maybe he had heard it during a commercial? No, he could also swear that he recognised some of the words as if they were pronounced in a different language though....

Wait.

“You BLOODY GIT!”, Arthur said turning towards his travelling companion.

Merlin woke abruptly, droll leaving his mouth and sleepy eyes being, well, sleepy.

“What happened? Did we land?”

"Almost." Arthur said, "But that's not the point."

“What pointed point, exactly?”

“Stop being smart and pun-y. You lied to me.”

Merlin looked hurt. “When did I do such a horrible thing?”

“At home. When we, you, were packing our things. You said it was a ‘ _pretty powerful spell_ ’, that you had ‘ _never tried with someone in the room’_. You bloody straight up lied to your king.”

Merlin looked shocked. His eyes were almost out of their sockets. “What? How?”

“The screen here showed me. Also, they got the whole story all wrong. Did I look scrawny and twelve years old when we met? I don’t think so.”

“You watched ‘ _The Sword in The Stone’_?”

“Yes, what an easy title. We see Excalibur a maximum of 10 minutes spread throughout the movie and yet that bloody sword gets all the credit. But you’re changing the subject here. You Most Powerful Sorcerer In The Land my ass! Did you steal the idea or was it the other way back?”

"I used an old spell and masked it with the song." At least Merlin had the dignity to look sheepish and embarrassed. His enormous ears had turned red. "You're really mad at me?"

Arthur looked the warlock straight in the eye, using his most serious expression. “No, but I was so impressed! And now I can’t even brag about it with Morgana.”

“Brag about what?”

“About how my man can fit the whole house into a suitcase just by doing a musical number. Can she do it, too?”

“I guess so, but probably the tune would be Madame Mim’s”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this.  
> I also thank my dearest melipedia for reviewing it all  
> Some little notes about the story:  
> I wrote it during history class when we didn't do a thing, so don't judge, I was extremely bored;  
> I am Italian(Wow shocking) so of course I had to use the Italian version, the English one sounds weird to me!;  
> I made Arthur trip over the books 'cause the owl Anacleto (Archimedes in the English version) trips over the books in the scene.  
> I originally intended a one-shot, but maybe I'll turn into a two-shots  
> let me know what you think about it!  
> Also, don't forget to leave kudos, we love kudos around here!  
> 


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